Licorice
by Tsimiko
Summary: It was the biggest black he had ever seen. Mentions of kink, slash, ZxCxS.


Title: Licorice  
Author: Panthera  
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, not mine.  
Warning: mention of kink, fluff (I think?), un-beta-ed. _

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It was the biggest black he had ever seen. People thought you couldn't find blacks in the wild anymore, but he lived in the mountains and you'd find signs of their passing, and if you were quiet enough (as Cloud often was) you could even catch sight of one as they went past. But the blacks in the mountains were smaller, a little scraggly, their feathers didn't shine with a glossy luster, and their feathers were always a little worse for the wear. _

_Not this guy, no, he was absolutely massive. Cloud debated if his head reached the base of the neck, or a few inches higher, depending on if he counted is spikes or not. The head crest put his to shame, although it was a close call, if the idle chatter of the other infantry and SOLDIER's was to be believed. The beak was curved, hooked, and Cloud wouldn't doubt it if the thing took to sharpening the edges, just like it sharpened the it's talons, which were each the size of his foot, at least. _

_It watched the area with a steady, determined gaze. Nothing would get past him, and that was that. He made all the infantry, and even a few of the SOLDIER's wary and edgy, trying to keep away from him. He made Cloud wary too, but not in the same way. No, this chocobo posed no threat to him, if he watched himself properly around him, and Cloud, after living in the mountains, knew how to handle himself around blacks, wild or not. The real problem was that if this chocobo were around, it meant his rider was around somewhere too. _

"_Kitten! There you are!" _

_Oh yes, the biggest, meanest looking black chocobo the ShinRa army had ever seen was named Kitten, and it belonged to a certain First Class SOLDER, who commonly went by the name Zack. _

"_You found Spike! Good boy!" _

_It was debatable as to whether the bird found him or he found the bird, but Cloud wasn't about to point that out. _

_Of course, this is also the point at which everyone realizes that despite being the biggest, meanest looking black chocobo around, Kitten is, in fact, a kitten when not on the battlefield or a mission. Actually, more like an exuberant puppy. _

_The bird happily warks at Zack, shakes out his feathers, and proceeds to sit down and roll over, asking for a belly rub. Zack is more than happy to comply, and Cloud has no doubt that were he just a few inches closer he would be dragged down to provide the same treatment to the overgrown ball of feathers. The treatment didn't last long, much to Kitten's obvious dismay, but Zack soothed his feelings with a string of red licorice. Kitten could not stand black, which Cloud had to agree to. _

_It was actually partially because of Cloud that Zack figured out Kitten liked red licorice almost as much as he liked belly rubs. Zack, due to Clouds adamant dislike of the black kind, had taken to getting a bit of red as well, whenever he got some. He happened to have a bag of it in his pocket one day when he went to the stables, and Kitten tore Zack's sweater, and then his pants, completely off his body trying to get to the stuff. Zack was completely at ease with walking around the grounds in nothing but his boxers, so much so that he immediately went to the General's office to announce his new discovery before getting a change of clothes. _

_Cloud accepted the string of licorice held out to him, silently refused to react when his hair was messily ruffled, and watched as Zack sauntered off whistling after making a vague comment about Sephiroth, riding leathers, and a chocobo's tack. It sounded like an interesting idea, but Cloud decided he needed to make sure Zack didn't get a hold of the camera. Contrary to most people, Sephiroth was less likely to kill them if they didn't take blackmail material. _

_Leaning to the side into the strong shoulder provided to him, Cloud idly scratched at the thick breast feathers, sighing at the exact same time as massive chocobo beside him, although probably for different reasons. _

_Looking up, he found Kitten looking down at him with a tolerant, infinitely patient look in his eye. Cloud decided that maybe the reasons weren't so different after all. _

Snapping awake all of a sudden, Cloud found himself sitting up and took the little extra movement required to rest his head in his hand. He didn't need to look at the table beside the bed to know what was there. The package of red and black licorice had been bought on a whim, for not discernable reason. Well, now he had a reason, and two things to do. The black licorice would have to be put in the metal canister of things he was slowly collecting that reminded him of Zack. As for the red, well, he'd just have to go to the southern part of the continent, to the mountains there, and see if there were any obnoxiously large black chocobos that wanted to share.

And for once in his life, he was glad of a ShinRa policy, even if it was to release retired chocobos to the wild.

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I'd like to know what everyone thinks of the ending, since it was more spur-of-the-moment, unplanned that my stuff usually is. Hell, this entire story was rather off the top of my head. Comments, opinions, whatever, I'd like to hear it. 


End file.
